Social Networks in Education

Social Networking has been a part of my personal life since I joined Facebook my sophomore year of college in 2004. I looked at social networking then as a way to stay connected with my friends, and to see who was going to be in my classes at GVSU. Since I started using Facebook the social network has gone through countless changes. The one piece of this social network that has remained the same is that I use it to connect with my family and friends still today. One of the many changes I have seen Facebook take is the turn from just socializing with friends and family to a place where groups of people can connect to share ideas.

I have recently been introduced to using social networking in a professional manner. The main social networking site I’ve used in a professional manner is Twitter. I was blown away at the amount of useful information you can obtain through a simple tweet on Twitter. I have also gained knowledge and new ideas from reading what others are doing in their classroom through this social networking platform. A site I was introduced to this week is MSUEduTech Group on MACUL Space. This site provides a network of teachers, working with technology, the space to share and collaborate ideas for using technology in the classroom. Through this site I’ve been able to set up my own page, and I am looking forward to utilizing this site in the future.

I believe the use of social networks is a valuable resource for our students. At the start of the school year I had over 700 students fill out a survey asking them what technologies they were familiar with. Many were unfamiliar with productivity tools such as Microsoft Word or PowerPoint, yet almost all knew what Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter were. I believe social networks are a great way to communicate with your students, and to teach them how to communicate in an online world. I read a great article today on Ask a Teacher Blog 3 Ways Twitter Makes You a Better Writer. This post is about how Twitter can improve students writing, and your own, in the 140 allotted characters. Social networks open the door to your classroom. Students can converse with one another about an assignment when they are working on that assignment at 11pm, instead of having to wait until the next morning. I enjoy reading about how others are using social networks in their classrooms, and I am looking forward to utilizing them in my classroom in the future.

I find using social networks like Twitter or MSUEduTech Group on MACUL to be a great way to increase my knowledge about technology, and teaching with technology. Social Networking sites provide free professional learning opportunities when you need them at your fingertips. I believe this is a priceless resource that should be utilized my every school district. Teachers can connect with others teaching the same topics and share what works and what doesn’t. What better way for teachers to learn than from each other! I recently read an article on the blog Free Technology for Teachers called Nine ways to find teachers on Twitter. This article linked me to a wiki that lists teachers to follow based on content area. This is a valuable resource that I have shared with my peers. Several co-workers have starting following other educators in their fields. Overall, I believe social networks provide a stress free and very valuable platform for educators to share knowledge with one another.